If people tattled, they alone were to blame.

For the first time she experienced a little resentment of the public criticism which was so rife in Wanley, and the experience was useful--one of those inappreciable aids to independence which act by cumulative stress on a character capable of development and softly mould its outlines.
She passed the church, then the vicarage, and entered the hedgeway which by a long curve led to the Manor.

She was slackening her pace, not wishing to approach too near to the house, when she at length saw Hubert Eldon walking towards her.

He advanced with a look which was not exactly indifferent yet showed no surprise; the smile only came to his face when he was near enough to speak.
'I have come to meet you,' Adela began, with frankness which cost her a little agitation of breath.

'I am so very sorry to have misled you yesterday.